As chronicled by historian Mary Bellis on About.com, the Canadian physician and educator James Naismith invented basketball in December 1891. Prompted by the request of his superior to produce an alternative for students bored with the traditional winter physical education routines of calisthenics and gymnastic in Springfield, Mass., Naismith affixed two peach baskets to a 10-foot-high railing. Students scored points by tossing a soccer ball into the basket, governed by a set of rules eventually published by Naismith in 1892.
Although no contemporary record of the details of the first basketball game exists, it is likely that at least one of the players in that nascent contest had a can't-miss, point-blank shot bounce off of the backboard, roll off the rim of the peach basket, and fall harmlessly away. It is perhaps fortunate for those players that history has forgotten the name of the first player to blow a lay-up. It has certainly become apparent in the intervening century of basketball that there is a need for increased shooting accuracy from all ranges, including close range.
In an attempt to satisfy this need, a variety of basketball shooting training devices have been devised. Many of these devices are represented in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,270 Barry is directed to an athletic shooting aid adapted to be detachably mounted directly on the goal of a sporting event to provide a target at which the player aims and strikes with the game piece in order to improve the form and accuracy of the player's shooting. The device comprises a clamp which is removably attachable to the goal having a substantially straight elongated member extending from the clamp with a ball or target of material attached to the elongated member to serve as the target at which the player aims when shooting the game piece. The elongated member is adapted and configured to allow the ball to move when struck by the game piece in such a manner that the game piece deflects the ball without substantially affecting the trajectory of the game piece and to allow the ball to be repositioned after the game piece has passed through the goal.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,416 to Callahan deals with a basketball practice assembly that may be removably secured to a back board supported hoop in a desired position to assist a player in improving his ability to make successful free throws or side shots. The practice assembly is of such design that two of them may be oppositely positioned on side portions of a basketball hoop to permit two players to simultaneously practice side shots.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,915 Woodcock discusses a basketball practice device adapted to be detachably mounted on a standard basketball goal to improve the form of the players in shooting goals. The device comprises a base which can be clamped to a standard basketball goal. This base has a plurality of radially outwardly extending members joined thereto. The outermost ends of the radially extending members have free-standing vertical elements so that they extend upwardly from the goal to deflect basketball shots having an undesirable trajectory.
Despite these and other training devices, basketball players at every level are still missing an unnecessarily high number of shots. The fact that many of these shots are easy lay-ups is distressing, not only to the players themselves, but to coaches and fans as well. It can thus be seen that the need exists for a simple, inexpensive, training device that will effectively increase the shooting skill of basketball players.